Pleasant Hill



 

Overview

Pleasant Hill,of Warren County, North Carolina, also known as Rivenoak, was built for Philemon Hawkins Jr.,also known as the third, (1752-1833) and his wife, Lucy Davis (1759-1807), who were married on August 31, 1775. Philemon had served in the Revolutionary War and settled down in Warren County to raise a family on lands inherited from his father, Philemon Hawkins (1717-1801), who also left large tracts of land to his children and grandchildren upon his death. There are several different versions of the ancestry of Philemon Hawkins Sr., and I am relating one of them. Philemon Sr. had come around 1736 to what was then old Edgecombe County, later to become Granville County, with his mother, Ann Eleanor Howard Hawkins (1694-1742) and his step-father. Ann had been the widow of Philemon Hawkins (1690-1725)who had died in Charles City County, Virginia, whom she had married in England in 1714, with both of them emigrating to Virginia shortly after their marriage. After settling in North Carolina along Six Pound Creek, Philemon Hawkins Sr. married Delia Warren (1721-1794) in 1743, and together they raised 7 children, Delia, John, Philemon, Benjamin, Frances, Joseph, and Anne Hawkins. The area of North Carolina where the Hawkins settled later became Bute County, which became Warren County. Still later, the part of Warren County that Pleasant Hill stands on went to Vance County when that County was formed in 1881. The Hawkins families were prosperous planters, who also had many businesses including sawmills, banking, machinery and phosphate manufacturing, as well as the fact that they held many offices in the Federal government, and indeed, one of Philemon and Lucy’s sons, William Hawkins (1777-1819), served as Governor for the State of North Carolina from 1811-1814.

 

Location

Originally part of Warren County, land now located near Middleburg, Vance County.

 

Date Constructed/ Founded

Late 1700’s, remodeled in 1850

 

Associated Surnames

Hawkins, Alston

 

Historical notes

Pleasant Hill was one of the largest plantation houses of its era, and has been included as part of the National Register for Historical Places since 1979.

 

Associated Slave Workplaces

none

 


 

Associated Free Persons

 


 

Associated Enslaved Persons

 

Slaves left by Philemon Hawkins Sr. in his 1801 will.

To son John Hawkins:

 

To son Philemon:

 

To grandson John D. Hawkins:

 

To Lucy, wife of son Philemon:

 

To granddaughter Priscilla Cotton:

 

Slaves to be left at Plantation, supported at expense of Hawkins three sons:

 

 

Philemon Hawkins Jr. died in 1833 and left the following in his will.

To daughter Elinor Haywood:

 

Slaves to daughter Ann Little:

 

Slaves to daughter Dillea Haywood:

 

Slaves to daughter Sarah Polk:

 

Slaves to son John D. Hawkins:

 

Slaves to son Joseph W. Hawkins:

 

Slaves to son John D. Hawkins in trust for son Benjamin T. Hawkins:

 

Slaves to granddaughter Emily Nutall (daughter of son William Hawkins):

 

Slaves to granddaughter Lucy Coleman (daughter of son William):

 

Slaves to granddaughter Matilda (daughter of son William):

 

Slaves to granddaughter Celestia (daughter of son William):

 

Slaves to granddaughter Mary Jeane (daughter of son William):

 

Slaves to granddaughter Henrietta (daughter of son William):

 

To be freed, but since the law does not allow, 2 sons to help set them up in trade:

 

John Hawkins (1745-1803)the son of Philemon Hawkins Sr.(d.1801) left the following slaves in his will.

To daughter Ann Hunt Fuller Marshall:

 

To son Benjamin Hawkins:

 

To daughter Delly Martin Green:

 

To son Joseph Hawkins:

 

To wife Sally Macon Hawkins:

 


 

Research Leads and Plantation Records

 

 


 

Miscellaneous Information

 

 


 

References

http://www.ncgenweb.us/ncwarren/bibles/hawkins-p.htm

 

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~markfreeman/hawkinva.html

 

http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/h/Hawkins_Family.html

 

http://www.southern-style.com/hawkins.htm

 

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dwilliams-1&id=I4293

 

 

 

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